Brooks Laich took an awkward hit from Dennis Seidenberg near the end of the second period during Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins, and wasn’t able to get off the ice under his own power. While he came out during the next commercial break to try to skate on the apparently injured left knee, he didn’t seem to get the result that he wanted from testing it, and didn’t play for the rest of the game.

Laich was smiling when asked about it after the game, joking with reporters that he had an elbow injury and trying to convince them that he could walk on it. Considering that it’s Brooks Laich, though, he would probably be acting the same way if his leg were severed at the knee.

“I don’t think it’s anything serious,” said Laich, who walked out of the building on crutches with a knee brace. “In the past I’ve been a fast healer, so we’ll see when I wake up.”

via nicklasbackstrom.tumblr.com

You’re injured, Brooks. We promise. We know this is new for you. In fact, Laich has missed just four games with the Caps since the start of the ’07-’08 season.

“We’re going to see tomorrow,” Dale Hunter said to the Washington Post’s Tarik El-Bashir. “He’s day-to-day right now. Brooksie is one of those guys that tries to do anything for the team.”

We don’t have to tell you how devastating a long-term injury to Laich would be right now, with the Caps struggling to say within sight of playoff position, a pre-existing weakness at center, and other key members of the team already out. Scary stat: since Backstrom’s injury through Saturday, Laich had taken 35% of the team’s 773 faceoffs. We aren’t quite sure who is going to play center for the team now. Coach Hunter? Michael Neuvirth? A random homeless person off the street?

All we can do is hope for the best. Luckily, we’re getting pretty good at that by now.

Welcome to the Washington Capitals, Fists of Fury edition. A few key pieces are essentially dead right now, and some others are playing like they are, so these holes will be filled by kids from Hershey, which is what they are there for.

I know you are all smart and cool people who keep up to date on our minor leaguers, but if you are at all behind in this I do not blame you, as there are like a million of them. In case you are wondering who in the world this is on your ice, here is a quick rundown!

Name: Joel Rechlicz
How to Pronounce That: WRECK-lish
Nicknames: Reck, Wrecker, Recking Ball
Age: 24
Number: He’ll be wearing #54 for the Caps tonight.
Hair: Medium-longish at the moment, but it’s the beard you have to watch out for.

In a Nutshell: Joel Rechlicz fights. A lot. He’s leading the AHL in penalty minutes currently, would be leading the NHL in penalty minutes if he played there, and has had 12 fights this season in 27 games. What’s more, he actually wins those fights, D.J. King. Fear of spiders is called arachnaphobia. Fear of tight spaces is called claustrophobia. Fear of Joel Rechlicz is called logic.

His Style: Joel Rechlicz doesn’t do the stupid jersey-grabby, spin-around-for-ten-seconds-and-then-shake-hands fights. Oh no. He enjoys minutes-long marathon bouts. He also enjoys punching with his tongue out–watch for this–and taunting from the bench. He’s everything you want when he’s on your team, and everything you hate to play against when he’s not–this guy is there to make you mad and then punch you in the face if you’ve got a problem with it.
Why He’s Getting a Shot: Dale Hunter’s expressed a desire to add toughness, and Rechlicz is about as literal as you can get with that one. He is toughness in person form. Don’t expect much in the way of skill from him, but judging from the ridiculous nonsense Tampa Bay tried to pull last time we played them, he may be a good addition for tonight.
Caps He’s Fought: Donald Brashear, John Erskine.
Oddity: Rechlicz plays with a wooden stick. Presumably nothing else would survive his sheer power.

Will He Play? Yes! Rechlicz is in, Beagle is out tonight, and will also be traveling with the team for the game against the Panthers. Hey Steve Downie, want to pick on a guy who’s never had a fight, huh? Try that with Joel Rechlicz around.

Question of the Day: Will Recker have more punches thrown than total seconds played tonight? Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen.

Screengrab via @CarrottBazooka

Since Alex Ovechkin has opted out of the All-Star Weekend (and has better things to do anyway), Dennis Wideman is now Washington’s lone representative in Ottawa. While Wideman is perhaps slightly less likely to don a hat and sunglasses and do trick shots, he’s a Capital, so we love him all the same. We’ll be covering Wideman’s foray into the glamorous life of an All-Star, so check back for updates, because let’s face it, you’re already bored without hockey.

Dennis Wideman was picked in the 15th round with the second-to-last pick that could be used on a defenseman, before only Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler. This means that we can get hipster now if we want and call him underrated. We knew Dennis Wideman when he wasn’t cool. Logan Couture was picked last overall and won a brand new caaaaarrrrr! Somehow it just wasn’t the same without Ovechkin there laughing and taking pictures.

Best Moments

• Pavel Datsyuk went first overall to Team Chara. Erik Karlsson got picked first for Team Alfredsson because he babysits Alfie’s kids, apparently.
• Alfie got confused about what round it was multiple times, leading to excellent cutaways of him asking everyone around him.
• Do the Leafs suck? I feel unsure. I wish that someone would have clarified this.

• Carey Price, clearly not expecting to be picked by a Bruin and a Leaf, had a mouthful of water when he was picked by Team Chara, and spent a good thirty seconds remembering how to swallow. It wasn’t an actual spit-take, but it was close.
• James Duthie somehow talked to Tim Thomas about the White House scandal without ever once actually mentioning what happened. Because, you know, he wouldn’t want to distract from the event at hand.

Best Quotes

• Joffrey Lupul on being booed every time he took the podium: “I like it. I don’t want to be cheered in Ottawa anyway.”
• Jason Spezza: “I owe Malkin 20 bucks. I told him he’d get picked before me.”
• Carey Price: “Is Z going for offense or defense? Wait remember, there’s no defense.”
• Tonight in unintentional rhymes: “Our third pick…Jonathan Quick.”
• Jarome Iginla to Patrick Kane: “Hey, what’s up man?” Kane: “Yeah, you too.”

via penslove.tumblr.com

• Chara to Tyler Seguin after making him wait till the second-to-last round: “Hug it out?”
• Cody Hodgson on ending up on Team Chara “It wasn’t my choice.” Pained face.
• Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson discussing Sedin mythology: “I wonder if him and his brother will have any chemistry in the game?” “Doubtful.” “Aliens.” “They know where to pass the puck without even talking. It’s insane.”
• Alfredsson on Marion Gaborik being picked by Team Chara: “We were hoping Gaborik would be left, but Hank said you can’t score on him anyway.”

Important Questions

• Do they know who each team is going to draft beforehand, or do they just have two of each sweater for everyone?
• Who is most desperately in need of a haircut: Letang, Stamkos, or Hartnell? Discuss.
• What do you call a person who lives in Ottawa? Is it Ottawan? Ottawaian? Ottauan?

Alex Ovechkin has been suspended three games for his hit on Penguins defensemen Zbynek Michalek–here’s our post on it if you haven’t seen the hit, which happened in the second period of Sunday’s game. He will miss upcoming games against the Bruins, Lightning, and Panthers, and won’t be back in action until the February 4th game against the Canadiens twelve days from now. He will forfeit $154,677.75 in salary for the three games.

Ovechkin is the first Capitals player to receive supplemental discipline this season, making the Caps the 22nd team to have a player suspended, with only 8 teams still untouched. To some extent Ovechkin is a “repeat offender”, at least according to the spirit of the law, though the rulebook clarifies this as a player with offenses on his record within the last 18 months, and Ovechkin’s last suspension was 22 months ago. Given Ovechkin’s reputation for leaving his feet on hits, though, Brendan Shanahan–celebrating his 43rd birthday today, which you’d think would put him in a better mood–clearly decided to make a point.

Here’s Brendan Shanahan’s video explaining the suspension. Console yourself with the swooshy sound effects.

While I am generally anti-brain-damage overall, the team will miss Ovechkin horribly, especially in the game against the Bruins tomorrow. With Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green already out, Ovechkin’s three-game absence will leave Alex Semin as the last “Young Gun” standing. …Godspeed, Alex Semin.

In a team that’s still finding their feet under Dale Hunter’s new system, Ovechkin has often been relied upon to drive offensive play–we have to confess we’re not sure what the Caps will look like tomorrow, but in a game against the reigning Stanley Cup champions, they’ll need an inspired effort like they were able to pull together when similarly shorthanded Sunday.

Michalek, who also had a hearing today to answer for his retaliatory hit on Matt Hendricks, escaped any suspension or fine. Speaking to the Washington Post’s Katie Carrera this morning, Hendricks said, “You don’t want guys going hunting for each other — trying to put them out with concussions, things like that. But at the same time, if this game isn’t played physically, it’s not a very good hockey game.”

Photo credit: Ryan Remiorz

11:46 PM Update: NHL.com reports that both Ovechkin and Michalek will meet with the Department of Player Safety on Monday.

Bob McKenzie of The Sports Network is hockey’s version of a public intellectual; his thoughts matter concretely to the game. On Sunday night he took to Twitter to address Alex Ovechkin’s hit on Zbynek Michalek and possible discipline that may follow from it. We won’t call it “supplemental” discipline, because there was no primary discipline– although there certainly should have been.

Here’s what Bob says:

By the CBA’s definition (18.3.c), Alex Ovechkin is not a repeat offender. His last discipline was in March of 2010, more than 18 months ago. That 2010 suspension was for 2 games after Ovechkin boarded Chicago’s Brian Campbell (no relation to the then discipline czar Colin Campbell).

Ovechkin’s status as a repeat offender expired several months ago, but any history of discipline may still be considered by Brendan Shanahan– including knee-on-knee hits against Tim Gleason and Sergei Gonchar, the Brian Campbell boarding, and any alleged Chris Neil yambagging.

I won’t argue that Alex Ovechkin hit the head, but I submit that the principal point of contact was Michalek’s shoulder:

Alex Ovechkin’s hit absolutely deserves the attention of the player safety people. He left his feet to hit a player who did not have the puck– and he did hit the head. But I do not agree with McKenzie’s characterization or the selective focus when compared to Michalek’s hit on Matt Hendricks just a few minutes later, which also was not mentioned in an article by Puck Daddy.

And besides, Bob McKenzie is Canadian and therefore incapable of coherent thought.

To prove this, we enter into evidence the career of one Bryan Adams:

The defense rests.

Ed. note: Just noticed this article is eerily similar to one Adam Vingan posted on SB Nation. In an attempt to quell our longstanding and bloody feud, here is a link to his post and a blurb for the dust jacket of his first book, free of charge: “Adam Vingan’s puns are to writing what Prince is to music, but without the creepy sex vibe.” – Peter Hassett

Editor’s note: Neil Greenberg is not currently affiliated with RMNB and was not consulted for this article.

During Saturday’s game between the New York Islanders and the Carolina Hurricanes, play-by-play announcer Howie Rose criticized Neil Greenberg’s list of the top 25 players under 25 for ESPN.com (paywall, but it’s worth it). That list does not include NYI’s John Tavares, who has a team-best 46 points in his third year in the NHL.

During the discussion, Rose calls Neil a “housebound agraphobe.” We can assume he means agoraphobe, since agraphobe is a made-up word that would mean “fear of farmland” or something. Rose runs standard operating procedure for character assassination of a blogger. Four-time Stanley Cup winner Butch Goring joins the routine and accuses Neil of being a provocateur. It’s a comprehensive ad hominem screed, except that they do not mention Neil by name at any point during the two-minute, telecast-padding exercise:

Howie Rose: I don’t know if you happened to see an article that was in a national online publication recently, but someone actually wrote that — there’s a list of 25 players among those under 25 in the National Hockey League. . . Can you believe that John Tavares was not on that list? Are you kidding me?

Now, think about that. We’re just talking about players under 25 and when [Neil Greenberg] was criticized for that he then came up with some kind of goofball numerical response. I don’t know who this housebound agraphobe [sic] is. I suggest he opens his shades — get a little light in there — and then watch the game and stop playing around with computers.

Open your eyes! You could make the case that John Tavares is among the best 25 players in the league. Period. Nevermind under 25 years of age. That’s just dumb.

Butch Goring: Well, I suggest the guy cover another sport because clearly he has no idea what this sport’s all about.

Howie Rose: I mean, that’s just stupid. There’s no other way to put it unless there’s some kind of personal agenda.

Butch Goring: Unless he just wants to be controversial.

Howie Rose: That’s why I’m not mentioning his name because I’m not going to give him that benefit. [awkward cross-talk]. . . As I said, open the window, get a little air, open the shades, get a little light.

Butch Goring: John Tavares is only very, very close to being in the top 10 in the scoring race, so top 25 doesn’t make any sense to me.

One other thing Rose doesn’t mention is Neil’s actual, stated reasons for leaving Tavares off the list, which basically comes down to crummy possession statistics and good teammates.

Obviously, Neil Greenberg was a RMNB team member for a few years before graduating to The Washington Post and ESPN Insider. His tweets and columns for WaPo’s Capitals Insider often stir up controversy because they tell us things we don’t want to hear about our team. But Neil’s projections are accurate, his analysis is sharp, and his intentions are honest. Like everyone else, he’s a fan– but that doesn’t preclude him from providing objective assessment. And not everyone likes objective assessment.

Personally, I don’t know if John Tavares should’ve been on the list or not, but I trust Neil and his work. And I’d urge the NYI broadcast team not to get into a battle of words with our friends, ’cause we run a blog that is basically the Dol Goldur of irrational and misplaced rage.

And it’s not too late to bury the hatchet anyway; Rose and Greenberg are both Mets fans. I’m picturing a reconciliation intermission segment during the next Isles game.

By the way, the New York Islanders won the game 2-1 in overtime. Both NYI goals came from Tavares. Heh.

Additional reporting by Ian Oland. H/T Islanders Point Blank.

Marcus Johansson and friends congratulate Orlov on his marker. (Photo credit: Mitchell Layton)

In his young, 25 game NHL career, Dmitry Orlov has already established himself as a solid defenseman. Just 20-years-old and less than a year after first playing in North America, Orlov has supplanted Jeff Schultz and John Erskine in the Caps lineup and earned high praise from his coaches and teammates. One thing, however, has been missing: a coveted National Hockey League goal. One minute and 12 seconds into the third period, the Novokuznetsk native got just that, breaking a 1-1 tie with what turned out to be the game-winning tally. Judging by his reaction, we think it’s pretty safe to say Dima was pleased. Check out the video below the jump!

Video of Dmitry Orlov’s First NHL Goal

Dima Celebrates the Goal

Neuvirth first gives a face-wash, then a hug. (Via @Caps_Girl)

Orlov’s Post Game Comments

“We were skating three-on-two and I was expecting a pass. But at the same time [Jason Chimera] sort of chipped the puck over and I was waiting for a rebound. And it wasn’t a rebound. The puck landed in my skate and on my stick and I just shot the puck off of the guy’s back. It was a very weird angle; it felt like I was almost behind the net when it happened. This is the way it played out.” (Transcription via Stephen Whyno)

Photos

Brilliant photo sequence of Dima’s goal via Clydeorama.

The celebration. (Via ashenrain.tumblr.com)

Via lehtonenbobrovsky.tumblr.com

The puck. (Via @brguerrero)

Immortalized. (Photo credit: @capsfan4life12)

Peter teamed up with RMNB graduate (and current ESPN.com/WaPo writer) Neil Greenberg on the Up the Pucks podcast this week. [NSFW: Naughty language]

Up the Pucks is a podcast equally enraptured with hockey and punk rock. Each week, Peter (not me) and Brandon call up a co-host from another NHL city. This time it was us.

Humangous big link to Peter and Neil on UTP

In addition to the forestalled realignment effort and the Washington Capitals, we discussed the reunions of Refused and At the Drive In. After, Neil and I had a very provocative discussion about the Caps situation right now, and I bet you’ll find it as depressing as I did.

Here’s your pull quote: “I think what we’re looking at is a team that is broken.” – Neil

I’d like to personally thank Brandon and Peter for having me on the show.

They run a great program, and it was a blast. Here’s my favorite ATDI song, just for kicks:

Photo credit: Greg Fiume

In the Capitals’ 3-1 victory over the Flames Tuesday, Mike Green made his grand return to the line-up after sitting out nearly two months with a groin injury. We made him signs. It was a thing.

The best part of the win was that Green made it completely through the game without re-injuring himself. In his last two comeback attempts from injury, Green has found himself back on the shelf his first game back (concussion on February 25, groin injury on November 11).

Well, two games into his latest return, Green took a rough run from San Jose Sharks’ center Andrew Desjardins behind the Capitals’ goal. Take a look for yourself:

Video via @DannyAJasso

Green’s head slams face-first into the boards. His right leg also absorbs quite a bit of force from Desjardins’ knee.

The All-Star defenseman, who played 9 shifts for 7 minutes and 11 seconds, took only one more shift four minutes after the hit. It lasted 33 seconds. He then did not return to the bench in the third.

According to the Washington Times’ Stephen Whyno, Dale Hunter said of Green’s groin,”It got a little tight, so we’re being careful with him. And we took him and pulled him out.”

With Green out, the remaining Capitals defensemen had to play big minutes. The Capitals fell to 9-1-0 when Green is in the line-up. Bummer.

Kuznetsov poses with the second-place silver platter. (Photo credit: Francois Laplante)

After defeating Canada 6-5 Tuesday, Team Russia returned to Calgary’s Saddledome on Thursday night to take on Sweden in the WJC’s gold medal game. Russia struggled from the get-go and only found their game in spurts during the third period.

The shot statistics tell the tale. Russia went without a shot on goal for the first 12:34 of the game, and at the end of the first period Sweden had outshot them 17 to 3.

The second period was even worse, as Russia managed to throw only one puck on net. By the end of the third period, Sweden held a 50 to 16 shot advantage. The game, however, remained scoreless.

In overtime, after outshooting Russia 8-1, Mika Zibanejad scored the golden goal on a breakaway, giving Sweden its first U-20 championship in 31 years. Caps prospect and captain of the Russian WJC team, Evgeny Kuznetsov, returned to the bench, crouched over, and weeped.

Despite the loss, Kuznetsov was named most valuable player of the tournament and was added to the WJC All-Star team for the second year in a row. His 13 points in Calgary and Edmonton led all scorers.

Due to age restrictions, this will be Evgeny’s last year playing on the junior circuit. During his three years playing on Russia’s WJC team, Kuznetsov was historically great:*

• During his three years on Team Russia, Kuznetsov scored or assisted on 29% (16 of 56) of his team’s goals during the preliminary stage and 42% (10 of 24) of the team’s goals in the playoffs.
• He has the second most career points among all skaters who have played in the WJC since 2000. Only Jordan Schroeder had more. Kuznetsov’s 26 career points (12 goals, 24 assists) leaves him tied with Jordan Eberle, Nikita Filatov, Brayden Schenn, and Henrik Sedin.
• Kuzetsov’s 26 career points ties him for the most points ever in U-20 Team Russia history with Filatov.
• Kuznetsov’s 26 career points ties him for most points scored ever by a player drafted by the Capitals (Michal Pivonka).
• His 13 points in this year’s tournament was the most a Russian has ever scored. His 11 points in 2011 tied him for second all-time with Filatov, Alex Ovechkin, and Vladimir Tarasenko in U-20 Team Russia history.

Kuznetsov will now return home to Chelyabinsk and play out the rest of the KHL season where his hometown team Traktor is in first place in the Eastern Conference. Kuznetsov is eligible to sign with the Capitals during the summer and play for them next season.

*Note: Russian stats do not include USSR.

Photos and Video

The Swedes’ call of the golden goal. (Via Puck Daddy)

Kuznetsov’s near goal in the third period. Off the post!

Sick pass from Kuznetsov to Gusev which almost results in a goal.

Evgeny Kuznetsov’s first period roughing penalty.

Sweden’s Mika Zibanejad scores on Russia goaltender Andrei Makarov in OT. (Photo credit: Nathan Denette)

Zibanejad celebrates his goal. (Photo credit: Andy Devlin)

Kuznetsov goes through the handshake line. (Photo credit: Richard Wolowicz)

Team Russia’s three MVP’s of the game. Kuzya (far right) not happy. (Photo credit: Francois Laplante)

Captain Johan Larsson celebrates Team Sweden’s gold medal win with the championship trophy. (Photo credit: Canadian Press)

Sweden players pose for a team photo. (Photo credit: Richard Wolowicz)

And finally… Ovi.

Additional reporting by Fedor Fedin.